In recent years, many homeowners have undertaken remodeling and home improvement projects on their own. Thus, there has been a surge in the number of "do it yourself" home-improvement products to allow the typical homeowner to undertake projects which would previously have required the assistance of skilled, and costly, craftsmen.
In addition, many consumers, homeowners in particular, are concerned with reducing their overall energy bills by reducing the amount of energy used in the home. It is well known that fluorescent lighting fixtures can provide energy and cost savings over incandescent lighting fixtures which produce the same amount of light. Thus, many consumers are having incandescent lighting fixtures replaced with fluorescent lighting fixtures.
While most consumers typically would feel comfortable changing a fluorescent light tube or incandescent light bulb should it burn out, a large percentage of consumers would not feel qualified replacing a fluorescent or incandescent light assembly should it need to be replaced. Such consumers would need to hire an electrician to replace the fixture. The expense of such a procedure could possibly negate the cost savings obtained by switching from incandescent to fluorescent lighting.
Thus, there is presently a need for a simple, efficient and cost effective fluorescent lighting fixture which allows the average consumer to personally replace the fluorescent light assembly.